Stats Linking Mobile Devices and Work-Life

The UK continues to churn out studies on work-life (and, frankly, I wish the US would keep up). This time it's a story from the Commerce Times on a study conducted by the Aberdeen group showing more business stats linked to mobile devices. Here is a sampling of some of the more interesting (to me) stats:

The ones we "expect" (which favor the business):

• 35% increase in employee productivity (for workers on the road)
• 23% increase in customer satisfaction
• 10% increase in employee collaboration
  

But more interestingly, here are some stats we might not have expected:

• 25% increase in employee retention
• 23% increase in ability to respond quickly to employee needs
  

It's interesting to see the use of mobile devices tied to employee retention -- I had not seen that before. And an increase in the ability to respond to employee needs makes sense, but again it is interesting to see the stat as something that can be quantified.

The article does leave one thing out, however. It notes that mobile technology can be a "double edged sword" which provides benefits but also acts like an "electronic leash". The article spends its time touting the benefits but gives no solution to the "dark side" of mobile devices.

To me, this is where a company's approach to work-life comes in. It's crucial for a company to treat work-life as not simply an offering, but as a culture. I've written about this before (see this blog entry, this blog entry, and this blog entry). A set of programs are not enough. It's like giving someone running shoes and expecting them to know how to run a marathon.